BRUINS NOTEBOOK: Bruins defenseman Andrej Meszaros glad for an opportunity to play

Sunday

May 4, 2014 at 9:59 PMMay 5, 2014 at 8:11 PM

Andrej Meszaros, who hadn't played since the second game of the first playoff round, returned to the Bruins' lineup on Saturday for Game 2 of Round 2 against the Canadiens. Meszaros replaced Matt Bartkowski, who struggled in Game 1.

Mike Loftus The Patriot Ledger

BOSTON – A good postseason experience got a lot better for Andrei Meszaros on Saturday afternoon.

Out of the lineup for the previous four games, Meszaros returned to the rotation on Saturday for Game 2 against the Canadiens when Bruins coach Claude Julien decided to pull Matt Bartkowski. Meszaros quickly made an impact, picking up an assist on Daniel Paille’s first period goal and he turned in a generally solid performance overall (1 shot, even plus-minus in 16 minutes, 35 seconds).

His only real misgiving: A roughing penalty at 16:23 of the second period, which the Canadiens used to take a 2-1 lead.

“I wish I could take it back because they scored on (the power play),” said Meszaros, who was caught retaliating after his helmet had been knocked off by Montreal’s Tomas Plekanec. “I thought we could have both been called, but we didn’t, so next game I’ve just got to take the punch or whatever, and just walk away, I guess.”

Saturday’s was the 49th career postseason appearance of Meszaros’ nine-year NHL career and third this year. (He also played Games 1 and 2 against Detroit when Bartkowski was stricken by flu.) The former Flyer, obtained at the March 4 trade deadline, had been all but absent from the playoffs since 2011 – injuries limited him to one game in 2012, and Philadelphia failed to qualify last year.

“It’s nice to be back in the playoffs, obviously, competing for the Cup,” said Meszaros, who played 34 games over three postseasons in Ottawa – 20 during the Senators’ 2007 run to the final. “It’s always fun being in the playoffs.”

Julien, who also took rookie Justin Florek out of the Game 2 lineup in favor of Jordan Caron, didn’t elaborate much when asked Sunday about the lineup changes. Bartkowski struggled in Game 1 against the Habs, taking two penalties that led to Montreal power-play goals – including P.K. Subban’s winner in the second overtime.

“It’s what we decided to do,” Julien said. “It’s as simple as that. I think we felt we needed a change and we made that.”

Meszaros didn’t go into much analysis, either. He was just glad to get a chance to play again and hopes he did enough to stay in the lineup when the series resumes Tuesday night in Montreal.

“I had to prepare myself because you never know what’s going to happen – if there’s going to be injuries or whatever,” he said. “Obviously, being out of the lineup is tough for anybody, not just for me.

“I’m glad I got the opportunity to go out there and play (on Saturday). It was a fun game.”

SURGERY FOR McQUAID

Defenseman Adam McQuaid’s season is over, but not because of the quad injury that has sidelined him since Jan. 19. Bruins general manager Peter Chiarelli announced on Sunday that McQuaid had undergone arthroscopic surgery on his right ankle on Thursday and that the expected recovery period is eight weeks.

It’s not known how or when McQuaid, who first hurt his left quad muscle on Nov. 9, sustained the ankle injury. He came back twice from the leg injury during the regular season and was continuing to work toward a comeback as recently as the Bruins’ first-round series against Detroit, when he was skating with other injured players.

Meanwhile, injured winger Chris Kelly remains sidelined by a back injury sustained on April 8 at Minnesota. Asked about Kelly on Sunday, coach Claude Julien said “every day is a better day for him, so that’s basically all I can tell you.”